Operator Of Loan Modification Racket Cops Plea; Admits To Clipping 300+ Homeowners Seeking Foreclosure Help Out Of Over $900K, Say San Diego Feds

From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (San Diego, California):

• Glenn Steven Rosofsky pleaded guilty [] to a superseding information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, one count of money laundering, and one count of filing a false tax return, announced Karen P. Hewitt, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California. [...] These criminal charges stemmed from Rosofsky's operation of a fraudulent telemarketing operation in San Marcos, Calif.

• In his guilty plea Rosofsky admitted that in approximately April 2009, he and Michael Trap (who previously pleaded guilty) began operating a loan modification business using the names "Nations Housing Modification Center" and "Federal Housing Modification Department" (NHMC), in an effort to fraudulently sell loan modification services to homeowners who were delinquent on their monthly mortgage payments. Rosofsky admitted that he, Trap and others used false and fraudulent statements and representations to induce customers to purchase loan modification services from NHMC.(1)

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• The staff of telemarketers at NHMC's offices in San Marcos used a script provided by Rosofsky and others to make similar false and misleading statements to potential customers. Relying on such misrepresentations, over 300 homeowners paid between $2,500 and $3,000 to NHMC between April and July 2009, resulting in over $900,000 in customer funds to be transferred to NHMC's bank accounts in the Southern District of California.

For the U.S. Attorney press release, see Owner of Fraudulent Mortgage Loan Modification Scheme Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy, Money Laundering and Tax Charges.

(1) Among the misrepresentations made to customers, according to the press release, were claims that NHMC had "attorneys" and "forensic accountants" on staff to deal with the loss mitigation departments of banks on behalf of NHMC's customers, that NHMC had achieved an "extremely high success rate for homeowners that met the Nations Home Affordable Modification Program guidelines," and that NHMC was located on "Capitol Hill" in Washington, D.C. In fact, as Rosofsky admitted, NHMC did not have attorneys or forensic accountants on staff, it did not have a high success rate of modifying loans, it had no connection with the U.S. Treasury Department's "Making Home Affordable" program, and its only presence in Washington, D.C., was a rented post office box. These false claims were made in solicitation letters that were mailed throughout the country to individuals behind on their mortgage payments and encouraged struggling homeowners to call a toll-free number to purchase NHMC's loan modification services.